Suspected Flushing coronavirus patients test negative

A health professional explains how a medical mask must fit in order to be protective against coronavirus. Two patients at Flushing hospitals who were suspected of having the coronavirus recently tested negative, according to the Health Department. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane.

By Jonathan Sperling

Test results came back negative for two people being treated for suspected coronavirus at Flushing hospitals Thursday, two days after the city’s Health Department first started monitoring them.

The unidentified patients, who had both recently traveled to mainland China, were being treated at Flushing Hospital Medical Center and Flushing’s New York-Presbyterian Queens. Both patients are over the age of 60 and reported a fever and cough or shortness of breath without another common cause, like the flu and other cold viruses, the Health Department said last week.

Testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took approximately 48 hours and determined that both patients were negative for the coronavirus, the Health Department said on Twitter Thursday. 

More than 31,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in China and more than 600 deaths have occurred as a result as of Friday. In the United States, there were 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday, though dozens of cases were still pending testing.

NYC Health Department Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot has repeatedly assured residents that the agency is working closely with the CDC and federal government as the outbreak continues.

“If you have traveled to the area affected by the outbreak in the last 14 days and feel unwell, call your doctor or visit a clinic, and you will be cared for,” Barbot said in a statement.

The first individual identified for testing for the novel coronavirus in New York City was a 40-year-old woman admitted to Bellevue Medical Center in stable condition on Feb. 1. Her case had eventually been confirmed negative. 

Two additional patients in New York City were under investigation for coronavirus as of press time Friday.